Immigration New Zealand has announced that it is once again increasing the Income thresholds under the Essential Skills work visa category on 24 February 2020.

These changes will affect anyone applying for an essential skills visa from that date.

The changes will not affect your current visa, but they may affect your application for a further visa.

If you do not apply for another Essential Skills work visa, you will not be affected by these changes.

What this means for you

If you apply for another Essential Skills work visa on or after 24 February 2020, the new thresholds may affect whether your job is considered higher-, mid-, or lower-skilled. The skill-band of a job affects how long a visa is granted for and whether you can support partners and/or dependent children.

Check the table to see the new income thresholds.

For some occupations at ANZSCO skill level 4-5, you may be considered mid-skilled if you are paid the median income or above. The median income will be updated to $25.50 per hour.

You can read more about this in our previous article on the topic:

https://nzil.co.nz/new-work-visa-thresholds-another-blow-to-migrant-workers/